Category: Radishes

This week, last year: our market menu, featuring the hilariously informative sketch of the mythical vegetannual. We’re currently in the leafy green base part of the season, and will remain there for a few weeks.

My garden seems to have gone from March to June in the last week and a half, totally skipping April and May. Everything’s green (except for the Japanese Maple that apparently died in the fall – major sadfaces here!), and our rhubarb has already shot flower stalks up to the sky. But as with all green things, garden or farm, we take what the weather gives us, right?

So, at the market this weekend, we should definitely be seeing more asparagus and rhubarb, plenty of greens — including fresh cut herbs — and small/shallow roots like radishes and turnips, thanks to farmers with hoop houses, who got an early start!!

If you’re looking for some new recipes for Rhubarb, we’ve pulled a few that might be of interest:

Rhubeena – a syrup/cordial, to be added to club soda or other drinks throughout the summer.

Rhubarb Crisp – I love the oats and nuts in this recipe, but it would be just as delicious if you were to make it nut-free. It calls for AP flour, but I see no reason why you couldn’t substitute rice flour or another gluten-free option, since the dough doesn’t need to hold any kind of structure.

Asparagus probably needs no introduction, but here are a couple of ideas just in case:

Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan – posted for the pictures, and oven temp, but it’s so simple you won’t need a recipe! (olive oil, salt and pepper, sprinkle of parm, roast in a 450F oven about 10 minutes)

The little roots might need a bit of promotion, though.

I really like spring turnips sliced on a mandoline (less than 1/4″ thick), sprinkled with a little salt and pepper, raw. They’re mild in the spring — it’s a great time to try turnips — and the white haukerei variety that’s become more popular in recent years are practically juicy like a fruit. You can also do a quick pickle, with vinegar and salt and pepper and a little ginger. The haukerei are delicate enough, you don’t want to overwhelm them with flavors. But that’s only if they make it in your crisper long enough to get to the pickling jar!! This farro salad with turnips and greens is also super lovely.

I also like to slice radishes on the mandoline (watch the fingers, though — get one of those knife-safe kevlar gloves!), either to add to salads or eat raw. I tried pickling them last year, and didn’t love the results. I usually enjoy radishes raw, but sometimes they do sit in the fridge awaiting an idea for something different; this roasted radishes w/ radish tops (and brown butter!) is the something different I found at one point last year. It’s really nice, mild and perfect for taming the heat that radishes can bring sometimes. Though radishes can be stored short-term, we’re at the peak of their fresh season right now, so enjoy them!

Hope to see you out and about this weekend, whether at the market, Green Top Grocery, Common Ground Grocery, or one of these local farms* (see below):

I honestly can’t tell most days whether it’s supposed to be fall or still summer. The leaves are just starting to change, the root vegetables are ABUNDANT, and occasionally there’s an actual chill in the air in central Illinois.

Since we’re wrapping back around, in a way, to some beginning-of-the-season offerings (greens, herbs, radishes), I thought I’d pull up selections from prior weeks. Do you have any favorites? We’d love to hear from you! Check out our Facebook page and message us!

Carrot salad w/ harissa & feta & mint

This dish is one of my favorites from Smitten Kitchen, and a great alternative to green salads when you have vegetarians to feed. It’s absolutely amazing when made with locally-grown carrots. If you haven’t had them raw, you’re in for a treat; they’re almost as surprising as a local tomato, I think. This recipe is great with or without the harissa — a spicy, garlic-y paste/spice mix. You can make your own, substitute it with another garlic-y chili paste, or just leave it out altogether.Pantry Check / Shopping list: carrots, caraway seeds (optional), cumin seeds, paprika, harissa (optional), sugar, lemon, flat leaf parsley, fresh mint, feta cheese.

Vegetable Frittata with Greens and Potato

Here’s a base recipe for the frittata (from Epicurious). To that base, add what you have! I like greens, herbs, potatoes, cheese, maybe some bacon or ground pork. If you have leftover roasted root veggies, chop them up (bite-sized) and add them as well; I think it actually works best when you have pre-cooked potatoes (or carrots or sweet potatoes)!
Pantry Check / Shopping List: chives, spinach or kale, eggs, potatoes, milk, sausage (optional), goat cheese (chevre).

Polenta with Greens

So easy, though it does call for a lot of stirring. There are a lot of recipes out there for polenta with a braised or steamed green (try beet greens!). This recipe from Food.com has swiss chard and a topping with dried fruits and nuts, as well as cheese (which is a must for polenta, in my opinion).

Local oats (or wheat berries!) with your favorite toppings – from Epicurious. Oats are inexpensive and store easily, and it just might be chilly enough this weekend for a hot breakfast. The next time I make oatmeal, I’m going to try adding in some of my homemade applesauce — which is basically just chopped up apples left in a crock pot until they’re soft.Market items: Oats!

Scrambled tofu with greens – from Yup it’s Vegan. This is a great way to incorporate vegetables in your breakfast, if that’s a thing you want to do. You can also add in leftover roasted vegetables – sweet potatoes are delicious in a breakfast scramble, too.Market items: greens!

Carrot Salad – This is a fantastic grated carrot salad with parsley and lemon, from Once Upon a Chef. While not a meal on its own, it would go well with some cheese and fruit and/or another assortment of things. I’d put money on this going well with feta cheese, in particular.
Market items: carrots, parsley, cheese, apples

The Peppers and Sausages below make great leftovers, if you chop up the sausages before packing into individual serving containers. Add some rice or bread for a hearty lunch.

My favorite and most reliable lunch these days is chicken and sweet potatoes and applesauce. We’re in the heart of sweet potato season now, so I suggest that you stock up. I like to peel and cut my sweet potatoes into large chunks and boil them (and then mash), or else cut in small-medium (1/2″) cubes and roast. I’ll bake the chicken with a glug of italian dressing and foil over the baking dish, and then retain some of the liquid that remains after cooking (otherwise the chicken can get dry). If you’re going to chop the chicken up after cooking, be sure to let it rest first — otherwise, you’ll definitely have dry chicken.

Five days of Dinners

Spicy Stuffed Cabbage Rolls – filled with rice, spicy pork, and fresh napa cabbage. Made by the Serious Eats folks, in their “Cook the Book” series, from Faith Durand’s Not Your Mother’s Casseroles. As the Serious Eats staff note, the filling can easily be customized for your family’s tastes: less or more spicy, different vegetables, substituting ground beef for pork, etc.Market items: Ground pork

The recipe is dead simple, and takes only 10 minutes in the morning. Slice the peppers and onion (I’d probably do this the night before, and wrap gently – who wants to go to work with onion hands? not I!). Then you add whole-grain mustard and beer, and put the whole sausages on top, and let it cook for the day.

Not only has the weather turned perfectly just in time for hot dinners, but this has been an AMAZING season for peppers! Just check out these beauties at the market!!Market items: Peppers, onions, sausages

Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs and Cabbage – from Food52. This calls for a head of green cabbage, and chicken thighs or drumsticks, and a simple quick marinade of sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sriracha and salt and pepper. The cabbage goes in later – this is the key with sheet pan dinners, is getting the timing right. If you haven’t roasted cabbage or brussels sprouts before, you’re in for a treat. If it were me, I’d make some mashed potatoes to go along with this hearty dinner.Market items: cabbage, chicken, potatoes

Roasted Root Vegetables and Hummus – if you’ve ever felt like making a dinner of appetizers, then this is your recipe. A combination of roasted vegetable chips and three different hummus recipes, to which I’d add some cooked quinoa and roasted broccoli, and maybe a hard-boiled egg. Some crusty bread, maybe.Market items: beets, turnips, radishes, broccoli, eggs, bread

Vegetable Mulligatawny Soup – I adore this recipe from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian. I’m not a vegetarian, but I make this at least once every fall, with an array of local vegetables. It calls for a long list of vegetables, but a small quantity of each: potatoes, carrots, turnips, basil, garlic, onion, plus fennel, cumin, coriander and peppercorns that you dry-roast in a pan and then grind fresh. It calls for vegetable stock, but chicken would be just fine if you eat chicken.Market items: potatoes, carrots, turnips, basil, garlic, onion

Wait, it’s only early September…still PLENTY of veggies pouring into the market every week. (By the way, this song plays in my head every year, basically all September long. Now it’s your ear-worm. I am sorry. It’s groovy, though! Dance with your veggies…) Look, it’s been a long week (you, too?) and I offered to help Steph with the Market Menu this week and I might be a little goofy-punchy today.

But that’s because the confluence of school getting into full swing, days getting shorter, and the air getting cooler means I’m totally energized by the beautiful veggies that are available this time of year. It’s pretty amazing, because you have the tail-end of (still truly fresh and delicious) summer veggies like peppers and tomatoes, the return of more delicate greens and lettuces, and NEW potatoes, squashes, and various root vegetables. To me, that spells menu inspiration.

Steph and I were chatting about what we love to make and eat this time of year – and we both landed on soups and salads. It’s really a perfect match for that summer-into-fall mood. Maybe we’re not ready to let go of summer’s bounty, but (admit it) we’re kind of excited to see fall colors and maybe even shift our energy level to a different space. The recipes below play off the idea of combining those seasonal vegetables in straightforward, fresh ways. Serve with bread and you’ve got a great lunch or light dinner.